Interactive Virtual Chemical Laboratory
Mojca Fir*, Danica Dolničar*, Anton Vahčič**, Margareta Vrtačnik*, Saša Divjak**
*University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering,
Department of Chemical Education and Informatics
**University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Computer and Information Science
Abstract
The co-operating partners are developing
background. With the help of interactive test
within the framework of the project »ICT in
items they will upgrade and broaden their
learning
knowledge.
and
teaching
chemistry«
an
interactive virtual chemical laboratory. The
Key words: interactive virtual chemical
laboratory is intended to motivate students
laboratory, experiments, and animations.
for learning chemistry in a different and
attractive environment, thus enabling them to
Introduction
understand better the correlation between
MacFarlen
macroscopic observations of experimental
correlation between information, knowledge
results and their explanations by using the
and learning stresses the importance of the
theory of the particulate nature of matter. For
role of lifelong learning in the information-
the teachers, the laboratory will represent and
based society. Lifelong learning takes place
additional
will
at the workplace and at home and its quality
supplement their explanations and develop
depends to a great extent on the use of
the pupils' and students' information literacy.
information
In the interactive virtual laboratory, the users
Therefore, according to Wilson (2001), the
will have an opportunity to select content and
basic precondition for a qualitative life-long
experiments according to their interests and
learning
capabilities. They will test the understating of
literacy, which is a skill common to all
the selected experiment; get acquainted with
disciplines and educational environments.
chemical hazards, and have a possibility to
Education institutions must adopt new trends
study the safety measures in handling
in designing their educational programmes.
teaching
tool,
which
(1998)
is
in
his
communication
well-developed
analysis
of
technology.
information
chemical reagents. At the higher level they
will
observe
the
As a joint project between Faculty of Science
experiments at the sub-microscopic level and
and Engineering, Faculty of Computer and
correlate
Information Science, Faculty of Chemistry
the
the
animations
results
with
of
theoretical
and Chemical Technology and University
which the main concepts presented were:
College of Health Care a novel Interactive
diffusion in comparison with solvatation and
Virtual Chemical Laboratory (IVCL) has
precipitation,
been developed. It can be regarded as a new
reactions occurring among ions in a water
multimedia educational tool for teachers and
solution and among molecules in gaseous or
students. It enables the introduction of new
dissolved state.
teaching
strategies
development
of
and
higher
supports
skill
differences
between
the
the
levels:
Production and technologies
communication and information literacy,
The next step was designing experiments for
independent
management,
visualisation of selected chemical concepts
problem solving, individual and collaborative
and processes on the macroscopic level.
learning, etc.
Different versions of video with experiments
knowledge
were made with a digital camera. Several
Scenarios
considerations had to be taken into account:
In the initial project phase, multiple activities
angle, lighting, contrast, hand movement,
were designed and were then interlinked with
effectiveness of the experiment (quantity of
the interactive chemistry laboratory. The
reagents used to achieve maximal visual
main activity is learning chemical concepts
change). Best videos were selected and then
and processes on the macroscopic, sub-
processed with Adobe Premiere 6.0. Sound
microscopic and symbolic levels. Other
(narration), subtitles, pointers, symbols and
activities are: discovering the properties of
pictures
reagents and product of chemical reactions,
understanding
using
information on the hazards of the reagents
the
database,
learning
chemical
software for drawing 2D and 3D chemical
were
added
of
to
support
experiments.
the
Visual
was also incorporated in the clip.
structures, and knowledge testing.
In parallel, scenarios for the animation of the
IVCL was developed in multiple steps. First,
experiments on the particle level were
the content, corresponding the chemistry
prepared. For each scenario we had to define
curriculum
secondary
the properties of particles (i.e. shape, relative
schools was selected on the criteria of
and absolute size, relative and absolute speed
suitability for multimedia presentation, and
at the reaction temperature). The main part of
applicability to everyday situations. The topic
the scenario was divided into a series of
selected was "Particles and Reactivity", in
scenes. For each scene we had to define the
for
primary
and
number of particles, their movement in the
properties, environmental and medical impact
virtual space, types of collisions, change in
and visual and structural representations of
size and shape of particles after collision.
substances was created.
The organization of particles in a crystal
lattice, when the reagents or products of the
reaction were in solid state, had to be
described. The connection between the
macroscopic and sub-microscopic world was
achieved by including short clips of the
experiment, using the zoom effect. In the
following step molecular models (molecules,
ions and crystal structures) were prepared
with the 3D modelling software (Spartan,
ChemSketch, MoluCad).
Fig. 1: Snapshot from animated chemical
The next step was animation and choosing
between modern technologies that offer many
options how to make a 3D animation. We
wished our animation to be interactive. We
also
wanted
to
avoid
problems
with
and
hardware,
software
compatibility
portability
between
different
operating
systems. At the end we decided on Maya
software, which can be used for modelling
and animation. The limitation of the selected
software
is
that
it
does
not
allow
reaction
Following video production, the animations
and the database had to be prepared, various
types of interactive exercises, aimed at
testing the understanding of the macro and
sub-microscopic change, were developed.
The user needs to associate the results of the
experiment with the particle nature of matter,
thus
developing
skills
for
information
retrieval (database). Explanations and correct
solutions are provided for every exercise.
interactivity, but the film we created can be
used in different systems. With Maya we
made short animated films, which we later
combined with sound, subtitles, pictures and
other elements to create the final version of
film. The database on substances with the
information
on
physical
and
chemical
Virtual laboratory on Web
In the final phase the online portal of the
Virtual interactive chemistry laboratory was
set
up.
Interactive
representations
of
chemical structures and videos require
specific freely available plug-in software. To
reach the broadest spectrum of users, both the
Library user education: powerful learning,
English and Slovenian version were created.
powerful partnership. Lanham, London: The
The web address of the laboratory is
Scarecrow Press, pp. 1-17.
http://www.ntfkii.uni-lj.si/crp2eng/frame.htm
and
http://www.ntfkii.uni-
lj.si/crp2-slo/frame.htm
The content of the virtual laboratory can be
accessed
from
different
entry
points:
experiments (micro/sub-micro level), media
elements (videos, animations, 3D molecular
models,
images),
interactive
exercises,
reagent/product database.
The laboratory is intended to teach students
about chemical reactions and processes on
three
different
macroscopic,
symbolic
levels
of
explanation:
sub-microscopic
level.
For
the
and
the
teachers,
the
laboratory represents an additional teaching
tool, supplementing their explanations and at
the
same
information
time
literacy.
developing
The
use
students'
of
the
laboratory encourages logical thinking, by
correlating the
conclusions made from
observation with the theoretical background.
References
MacFarlane,
A.,
1998:
Information,
Knowledge and Learning. Higher Education
Quarterly, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 77-92.
Wilson, A. W., 2001: Information literacy:
fluency across and beyond the university. In: